Previews

NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams

One of the most beautiful games in Sega's history looks to be in good form on Wii.

Spiffy:

The return of a Saturn classic beloved by fans; gameplay still unique and challenging.

Iffy:

Still some little flaws in graphics; motion-based control system may need polish.

When asked, not every gamer will know what NiGHTS is, but you can bet that a decent-sized chunk would answer very enthusiastically to the affirmative. NiGHTS was in fact a non-Sonic game created by Sonic Team for the good old Saturn more than ten years ago. Now, Sega is finally bringing back the beloved franchise on Wii, and, from what we could see in the eyes-only presentation at Leipzig today, it could live up to the hopes of all its many fans.

NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams is basically an action game which takes place in the dreams of Will and Helen, a young boy and girl who use that strange dream world in order to face and solve the challenges they have to face in their everyday lives. The dream world Nightopia is inhabited by all sort of creatures, both good and malevolent. To help the two children against the threat of the evil Nightmarens there is NiGHTS, a bizarre creature dressed like a jester who flies through the levels collecting orbs and looping around foes.

It looks like in some parts of the game the player will take direct control of Will and Helen, but in the level that was played for us NiGHTS was the king of the action. Each level has a time limit, and the end of it should be reached in time and with the right score. In order to do this, you have to fly NiGHTS through rings that boost his speed, and collect orbs that give you points. If you string together flying through rings and collecting orbs, you can form combos that will multiply your score and help you get to the next level. As far as the combat is concerned, NiGTHS can directly attack his enemies with his dash or fly around them in order to create a vortex they'll be sucked into.

Apart from the flying level, a boss fight was also shown. In this case, the perspective was vertical and the level looked like a sort of a pinball, where the player had to fight against a floating clown who tended to drop down towards the bottom of the level. The player had to prevent it from happening, pushing the boss up, or grabbing him and launching him towards the top, avoiding or breaking various obstacles. It didn't look so simple to do, and eventually the clown was sent through the roof of the level and disappeared.

There are two ways of controlling NiGHTS' movements: one is by the more classical analog stick on the Nunchuk, while the other is moving the Wiimote. According to the impressions the SEGA employee who was playing the game gave us, the first and more classical control system is definitely the best to use. The other looks a bit unruly and less practical. The rep added that, after all, not every Wii game should be played with the Wiimote just because it's on the console. We agree, but we'll hold our own judgment on NiGHTS specifically until we get some real hands-on with it.

As far as the graphic compartment is concerned, it's nice and reminiscent of the old Saturn game. The colors are very bright and the levels well resemble the idea of a childish dream. Some of the graphic effects are cool, for example the water transparencies and the underwater effects. Scheduled for a November release, Journey of Dreams could be a great blast from the past for longtime Sega fans.